Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-09-18

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is a good thing. Others believe that we should try to cooperate more, rather than competing against each other.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Some people think that competition at work, at school and in daily life is the good thing. However, others individuals think that cooperation is more important than competition. The essay will equally focus on both the sides of the topic with valid facts and illustrations before coming to the conclusion which will reflwct my opinion, cooperation is more useful in daily lives.

Firstly, competition is a good thing in many situations. It is a way to improve people's skills and performance. For the example, competition at school is useful because students are motived to study harder. It is also useful at work because employees are encouraged their jobs better. In daily lives competition is also part of many activities. For example, people can achive their goals and they also become more confident.

On the other hand, cooperation is also important. It is way for people to work together and also solve problems. For example, group work at school is useful because students can share their ideas with their friends and other classmates. At work it is also important because difficult tasks are easy when group of people solve tasks and it is also consume less time in tasks. cooperation is also useful in daily lives. For example, people can help their nearby other individuals .

In my opinion, cooperation is more important than competition. competition is useful when people compete in a healthy way but competition can create stress and problem between people . Therefore, cooperation is a better way of build good relationships and achive goals.

In closing, competition is useful because it can improve performance and their inside hobby. However, cooperation is important because it is way of solve problems and help others. I believe that balance between competition and cooperation is the better way of life.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response addresses all parts of the prompt by discussing both competition and cooperation while providing a clear personal opinion. The writer establishes a stance in the introduction and maintains it through to the conclusion. However, the ideas lack full extension and depth. For instance, the arguments regarding how competition motivates students or how cooperation saves time are somewhat repetitive and rely on general statements rather than well-developed explanations or specific personal examples. While the overall task is addressed, the development falls into Band 6 territory because the supporting ideas remain somewhat superficial and under-developed. Nevertheless, a clear position is presented throughout, satisfying the core requirements of the task prompt.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The essay displays a coherent overall arrangement with a clear paragraph structure, including an introduction, body paragraphs for each view, a personal opinion paragraph, and a conclusion. Cohesive devices are used to signal transitions, such as 'Firstly', 'On the other hand', and 'In my opinion'. However, cohesion is at times mechanical or repetitive, and referencing is occasionally faulty, such as the awkward transition in the concluding paragraph ('and their inside hobby'). Paragraphing is generally used appropriately, but the flow between sentences within paragraphs could be smoother to achieve higher band levels. Overall, the logical organization is sufficiently clear for the reader to follow the writer's arguments without significant difficulty.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The student demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully using common terms related to work, school, and daily life. There are several attempts to use less common vocabulary, but these are often accompanied by word-choice, collocation, or spelling errors, such as 'reflwct' instead of reflect, 'achive' instead of achieve, and the unusual phrase 'inside hobby' in the conclusion. Despite these noticeable lexical errors and occasional repetitions of words like 'useful', the vocabulary is minimally adequate to convey the intended meaning, and communication is only rarely impeded by these inaccuracies.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

The response features a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating some variety in structure. However, there are frequent grammatical errors throughout the text, including missing articles ('is the good thing'), incorrect passive voice constructions ('employees are encouraged their jobs better'), and punctuation errors. While the writer attempts complex sentences, they are often slightly flawed. Although these errors are noticeable and require the reader to occasionally re-read a phrase, they do not severely impede overall communication. The control of grammar places this essay solidly at Band 5.5 due to the frequency of non-systematic errors.

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